title: Evacuation preparedness in full-time wheelchair users with spinal cord injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To analyze and evaluate the efficacy of evacuation plans described by individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive study from a convenience sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  Outpatient population center in Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-one individuals with SCI who previously indicated that they had a plan of evacuation from either their homes, places of work, or towns/cities were contacted via telephone and asked to describe their evacuation plans. The number of critical elements (scale of 0-10 with 10 indicating a more thorough plan) and assistive technology (AT) devices were recorded.
  
  
  METHODS
  The number of critical elements (scale of 0-10 with 10 indicating a more thorough plan) and AT devices were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median home and town/city evacuation scores were both 3.00 (ranges: 1.0-4.0 and 0.0-8.0, respectively). Median evacuation scores of individuals with paraplegia were higher in home (P = 0.05, r = 0.44) and town/city (P = 0.045, r = 0.63) than individuals with tetraplegia. Median evacuation scores of subjects who were employed were higher in home (P = 0.036, r = 0.47) and town/city (P = 0.064, r = 0.59) than unemployed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Low scores indicate that individuals with SCI who believe that they have plans are not adequately prepared for an emergency evacuation. Interventions are needed to improve evacuation readiness and lack of preparedness in a catastrophe should be considered by emergency personnel when responding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15206, USA.
authors.forename: Nathan S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Hogaboom
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Oyster
authors.forename: Melissa S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Riggins
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Boninger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014910:Wheelchairs; D055815:Young Adult